Author

Writing Down the Bones

Writing Down the Bones was integral to my process as a young writer, and continues to be a seminal work for my own teaching of young writers. This blog writer breaks down the greatness of Natalie Godlberg in a fabulous way.

Natalie Goldberg on the Basics of Writing Practice

Many years ago, when I first had the courage to try writing, I came across the wonderful Natalie Goldberg’s book, ‘Writing Down the Bones’. Until then I’d always thought my writing had to be perfect, with impeccable grammar, sentence structure, and so on. But no – according to Natalie, the secret of writing is to just let yourself go, forget rules and regulations, and silence the censor in your head.

After having written one novel and started another, I still have trouble turning off the critic. It’s a lifelong habit of those of us whose school compositions were judged on form rather than content. But Natalie gave me these liberating strategies for creative writing, and they may help you too. Here are some edited extracts from ‘Writing Down the Bones’: